Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, known for its weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, has named Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new chief executive, relying on an experienced company insider to make up ground lost to market rivals.
Mr Doustdar’s appointment came on Tuesday after the abrupt removal in May of his predecessor Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen by Novo and the Novo Nordisk Foundation — the company’s controlling shareholder.
Ozempic-maker ousts CEO after shares plummet
The new CEO joined Novo in 1992 and currently serves as vice-president for international operations, a role he took after leading the company’s businesses first in the Middle East and then in South-East Asia, Novo said.
His most urgent challenge, according to investors and analysts, is to revive Novo’s performance in the United States, the largest market by far for weight-loss drugs and where they are most profitable.
Novo launched its weight-loss drug Wegovy nearly two-and-a-half years before its US rival Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.
Zepbound prescriptions surpassed those of Wegovy this year by more than 100,000 a week.
The appointment comes at a challenging time for the global pharmaceutical industry as US President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on imports and calls on drug makers to lower their American prescription prices.
Novo Nordisk is most known for its weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. (Reuters: Hollie Adams)
Mr Jorgensen led Novo through a period of meteoric growth as it led the weight-loss drug boom, becoming Europe’s most valuable listed company after the launch of Wegovy in 2021.
At its peak in June 2024 Novo was worth as much as $US615 billion ($946.4b).
Novo facing share price freefall amid investor concerns
Novo shares have plunged over the past 12 months, amid investor concerns about the company’s experimental drug pipeline and its ability to navigate challenges in the US market, such as the threat to its sales from compounded copies of Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound.
On Tuesday, Novo cut its full-year sales and operating profit forecasts for the second time this year, sending its shares down as much as 17 per cent.
How Ozempic works in the brain to help people lose weight
“The lowered sales outlook for 2025 is driven by lower growth expectations for the second half of 2025,” the company said in a statement.
“This is related to lower growth expectations for Wegovy in the US obesity market, lower growth expectations for Ozempic in the US GLP-1 diabetes market, as well as lower-than-expected penetration for Wegovy in select IO (International Operations) markets.”
Novo now expects 2025 sales growth of between eight and 14 per cent in local currencies, down from its previous forecast range of between 13 and 21 per cent.
It also lowered its operating profit growth estimate to between 10 and 16 per cent, down from 16 to 24 per cent previously.
Sales rose 18 per cent year-on-year in both the second quarter and the first half of the year, Novo said.
Its operating profit increased by 40 per cent in the April-June quarter and by 29 per cent in the first half, the company added.
Booming sales of Wegovy catapulted Novo to become Europe’s most valuable listed company in 2024, peaking at about 615 billion euros ($1.09t), but the value has since fallen by more than half.
The company is scheduled to release full second-quarter earnings on August 6.
Reuters
